Holly Bash
Ms. Templeton
English 1020-29
3 March 2015
Mainstream Millennials
Who really are the Millennials? Are they really a generation lost in technology or are they a generation ahead of their time? “Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.” by the Pew Research Center and“ Millennials- Generation Screwed or Generation Shrewd ?” by Jan Ferri-Reed both show two sides of one stone about the Millennial generation. Millennials are breaking down walls in economic ways, religious ways, but they need to watch their stress levels.
Money has been a problem in every generation, but the other generations are not facing the same problems as the Millennials. In “Open to Change” it talks about how the Millennials do not think that their work ethic is a standout point about them. The article says that they are aware of the fact that they are not like the other generations when it comes to work ethic and moral values. “ -young adults agree that older adults have the better of it.” ( Pew Research Center 61) The unemployment rate for Millennials is 13.1 percent. ( Ferri-Reed) Think about how the Millennials are faced with an unemployment rate that has skyrocketed around 80 percent. The Millennials are not doing much about much the unemployment, it is not just the Millennials who are facing unemployment. The other generations are fighting it too. Millennials just seem to accept the fact and move on. The Millennials “are over educated and underemployed” (Ferri-Reed) This statement is very powerful ,because it sums up the Millennials very well.
In the generations before, there has seemed to always be a bigger push to get people into more education after high school. That push has finally caught up to the Millennials and now lots of them are going to school and by the time they finish at school it is very hard to find employment for them. On top of the Millennials not being able to find work they are faced with the debt left behind from their education. As time moves forward so does money. The price it would have cost to go to school in the 20s is very different today. In a graph used in “Open to Change” it shows each of the generations beliefs on which they think makes their generation unique. The Silent Generation ( people born from 1928-1945) thought that their smarts were one of their highest ranking unique traits. The Millennials listed their smarts on the list as well, but at a lower percentage and lower on the list. For the Silent Generation, there was a while were only 50 percent of students would graduate high school, for the Millennials that percent has hit a record high of 80 percent. Most of them will focus on school,so their minds can slip out of weekly habits. One example could be that they get out of practice with their religious beliefs.
The Millennials are one of the least religious generations. “One-in-four are unaffiliated with any religion, far more than the share of older adults when they were ages 18 to 29.” (Pew Research Center 57) Just because they are not super religious does not mean that they are not religious at all. It really just means that religion is not the highest thing on their importance list. They have the freedom to choose whatever they want to believe, but it seems like they either do not know what they want to believe or they do not really care. The Millennials tend to focus more on either trying to maintain a job or finding one than they do trying to keep up with their religious beliefs. You could ask a Millennial to choose either a steady income or faith, and more than likely the Millennial would choose the steady income. Because the Millennial are so indifferent about religion, they could be open to so much more ideas. “ Millennials are open to change and are willing to embrace broad societal trends such as the movement towards green energy, evolving technology, and the growing diversity of America.” ( Ferri-Reed) Millennials are ready to face the new world as it comes by, but is the after effects taking a toll on them? Millennials have an increased health problem with their stress levels.
Millennials are not the only ones stressed, they are just stressing over things they should not have to. The big economic problem that they faced has caused them to stress over work, money and job stability. Whereas, boomers and other older generations are more concerned about health related problems. ( Ferri-Reed) A good bit of the Millennials are getting to the age to where they start looking for job and trying to keep them. It makes sense that they are worrying over money related things. As time goes on, people invent simpler ways of doing things. The new inventions could be a result from people seeing other people really stressed about things. Millennials say that technology makes their lives easier and brings people together. ( Pew Research Center 60) A simpler way of doing things can make someone's stress drop significantly. The Millennials could even someday find a way to get rid of stress as a result to all of their pent up stress.
Millennials are faced with lots of problems, but they are taking the on the problems regardless of how they feel towards the problem. With a roller coaster ride of economics and judgment from other generations about their religious beliefs, Millennials do not seem to care what other generations think about them. Millennials may be stressed while doing so, but they keep their heads up and continue to make new paths in the way of life.
Works Cited
Ferri-Reed, Jan. "Millennials - Generation "Screwed" Or Generation "Shrewd?"(Leading a Multi-Generational Workforce)." The Journal for Quality and Participation 36.1 (2013): 22. Web.
The Pew Research Center. “Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.” Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Pearson, 2012. 56-62. Print.
